Would Killing Me Make Us Even?
by GracefulDemon
Summary: Would killing Lara give Amanda some peace of mind? My take on what happened right after the end of Tomb Raider Underworld.


**WARNING: If you hate Amanda Evert you will hate this here.**

**I wrote this all in one go.**  
**I apologise for the chapter's shortness; the thing is I have been too focused in outlines and I am afraid I have lost my touch. Hopefully you'll still be able to enjoy this.**  
**I haven't bothered my wonderful beta reader with this little one shot because I am not all that proud of it; I will use and abuse her soon. *evil grin*  
P.S. I just abused her. *evil laugh***

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"Would killing me make us even?" she asked nonchalantly, placing Excalibur behind her back.

I wish I had delivered my fist's _coup de gras_ on her perfect nose, right then and there, but I was considerate enough to back down and give her some privacy with her thoughts; although, I had not given up on confronting her. I would not leave this place without, at least, some peace of mind and the _key_.

I limped to the end of the corridor and sat against the wall, facing a blasted door. My ankle was killing me. It would be so easy to fix it, but the cost... was I willing to pay such a high price for a twisted ankle? Or a scar? If I didn't do it I would probably die in a few days. There was no way I could hike down the Himalayas to the nearest town with a twisted ankle. _I don't feel like asking for help either_, I thought, but reality soon caught up with my lost mind; I had no one to ask for help. And so my painful decision had been made.

Slowly, I crossed my injured limb on my extended leg, wincing quietly as I felt the bones move more out of place. I tied the simple leather string, from which my pendant hung, around my neck and gently wrapped my hands around my ankle. Not giving myself time to think or breathe, I cracked the bone into its place, gritting my teeth to contain the painful scream. As soon as I wished for it, I was enfolded with the so familiar black, purple and blue smoke, and by the end of my deep breath I felt as good as new. My ankle was, yet again, in impeccable shape.

I got up, just in time to hear Lara's steps approaching me.

_ She must have finished her goodbyes already. How quick._

I remembered the ugly scar she had gifted me with, nothing but flawless skin now, so my hand confirmed. It was gone too. Unfortunately, I feared the rest of my body had been branded with scars much worse than the one that once showed on my face.

I turned to the exit as I felt Lara's eyes on me, but I did not really bother to walk towards it; instead, I pressed my back to the nearest wall and crossed my arms under my chest. She didn't acknowledge me before I asked for attention.

"Lara, wait," I sighed.

"What do you want?" her voice was hateful, as it had always been since the day she foolishly activated the stone dais in Bolivia.

"Spare a moment of your time and talk to me for a while."

She eyed me with distrust, but, to my surprise, complied to the request, pressing her back against the opposite wall and facing me. "What exactly is it you want to talk about? If this is still about Paraiso-"

I immediately held up my hand "Shut up. This isn't about that. I want to ask you a few questions. Answer them very carefully, if you please." She crossed her arms as well, impatiently. "Why did you blame me for your mother's death? Why did you blame me for Fletcher's death? What did I ever do to you that caused me to be so hated?" I spoke in a calm tone.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said more to herself than me. She looked at me as if I was crazy, but I still wanted my answers. "You can't be serious. You know what you did! You told her to pull out the sword!" she bellowed. "If it wasn't for you my mother would still be alive. And Alister? You clearly ordered his death. The doppelganger was following orders."

"Not my orders. As much as you deserved your loss all I asked of it was to retrieve me this," I signalled to my pendant "I did not kill your mother either."

"The hell you didn't!"

"Okay. So how was it that I killed her? I was not the one who activated the dais, it was you. Do you really believe that your mother would choose to pull the sword out of the stone – not knowing where it would lead her – and leave you, a child, all alone? If anything, she would have taken your hand and run away from there as quickly as possible. If it were not for my warning you would be dead too."

"Do you really think she would ponder her actions at a moment like that?" she snapped loudly.

"Oh Lara, how much do you underestimate the rest of the world? Of course she would have thought of it. When she pulled the sword out of the dais she saved your life. My voice was never clear to her through the looking glass, I was out of reach. While you, at first, were but a blur to her, but after a few moments she saw you and she immediately recognised you. Do you know why she pulled out the sword? Because you never did. The dais exploded and she saw you die; there was nothing she could have done to save you but prevent you from pulling the sword yourself in the future."

"You're lying." She looked away "I was there with her and I couldn't see anything."

"I was right there with you and I couldn't see your mother either."

"Why are you lying to me, Amanda? Are you expecting me to forgive you?"

I couldn't help but snort at her foolish attempt to rise above me "Between us, the one who should be asking for forgiveness is you, not me. After all, I was the one you forgot submerged in a tomb. I was the one you betrayed. I was the one who lost my most important person, killed by your own hand." I walked towards her and saw her hands resting on her dual pistols "I could have killed you so easily, if only I had wanted to, and you just never believed the possibility because to you I am less than nothing." I spoke softly. "It must be hard, being so weak." I could see the movement of her lips as she gritted her teeth in fury.

"Get out of my sight before I blow a hole in your head," she threatened lowly. I had never heard so much hate dripping from a single sentence. Maybe she had a new reason to hate me, now that I had shed some light on her dark self-lie. I didn't back away from her, not even slightly. I was invading her personal space and I would be lying if I said I wasn't amused at her hate towards me. It had once hurt me to think of Lara as an enemy; now, I could almost laugh at how pathetic she was and how pathetic I had been for trusting her all those years ago.

"You could have saved Amelia," I smirked "but did you ever think of a possibility?" Of course she hadn't. I shook my head. "You're just not that bright."

Her fist shot in front of my face and I captured it as easily as I snapped her wrist, enjoying her painful cry and her shocked expression.

I easily took Excalibur from her, feeling the power running through my veins and the feeling of accomplishment. _I have plans for you._

"How did you...?"

"Indeed." I mocked, kicking her knee. She fell to the floor, holding on her injured wrist and gritting her teeth in anger and pain "You know... Lara," I kneeled "I can even answer questions better than you. Would killing you make us even? Of course it would. You have killed me once already. The thing is," I rose up and walked towards the exit. I stopped by the blown open door and looked back at my helpless old friend "that wouldn't be fun at all." I winked and vanished from her sight, hoping never to see her again.

She would survive that, of course. She had all the gadgets and so on to call for help. She had someone who would answer on the other side of the line. My other side of the line had long been disconnected.

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**I hope you've enjoyed this little piece.**  
**Please, tell me your thoughts on it and review, because reviews make the world go round! :D**  
**Thank you for reading!**


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